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Lawless Lawyer korean drama review
Completed
Lawless Lawyer
3 people found this review helpful
by All_In
Jul 2, 2018
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers
I found this to be a fun, generally easy watch even with the tone of murder, revenge and corruption. It has all those elements with a quirky, funky vibe as well as awesome (if totally unrealistic) action scenes and a dash of romance as well. I also am not generally a fan of legal dramas because I know too much about that area and the legal aspects are ridiculous and it is hard to suspend reality. Nonetheless, this show has the benefit of spending the absolute minimum amount of time in a courtroom.

Are there flaws? Sure, here's what bugged me though I have to keep it vague to avoid spoilers:

- Love the uncle and the scenario he was involved in would have made more sense with one or two conversations to set up the situation better.

-Some noble idiocy that doesn't last long and seems unnecessary and contrived and, with a little better writing, could easily have been avoided.

-I can't believe I'm saying this because sometimes dramas give too much build up to the bad guys, but I actually wanted a bit more about how these baddies came together.

- A bit too much of people having the, " I will take you down" talk which I took as just wanting two certain actors together to show their stuff. Once is fine but around the 3rd time, it's a bit much.

- There are a few things that happened throughout the drama that needed that one conversation that tied things together a little better. It doesn't take away much from my enjoyment, but I did notice and others did as well. Probably a victim of the live shoot. It's odd how when a drama really works, I notice the small things yet when a drama is just okay, I forgive huge gaps in logic. I guess I'm a bit contrary.

The things I liked:

-Strong female lead and not cookie cutter. The writer of this drama also wrote the melo, Remember: Son's War and I recall there were complaints that Park Min Young's character got sidelined. I'm not a huge melo person so I can't speak to that drama, but any concerns in this regard can be disregarded. Again there was a story arc in the second half that was meh but it was shortlived. Otherwise, I found the female lead to have depth. She's not the over the top sassy that might be assumed from her punching person after person early on. We really get to know her here and she gets to show her stuff both in and out of the courtroom. Someone commented BSP saved her a lot; well she saved him as well. AND she got to drive the muscle car.

-To have a drama like this work well, you have to have a great antagonist. We get 3 from the judge to her minion to her thug. These three actors elevated this drama and a special shout out to Choi Min Soo who has more charisma than any other actor of his generation that I've seen in k-drama. I believe another actor had to back out so he came in late, had to immerse himself in this character and learn the dialect as well. If anyone gets an award from this drama, it will be him.

-The music is fantastic. The opening right away lets you know the quirky vibe of the drama and the background music and OST songs are all fantastic. Also the setting; it's nice to hear a dialect and get out of Seoul.

-Direction is great. Was there a bit of the shaky camera here and there, yes, but he didn't go crazy. This PD knows how to shoot action (yes, totally unrealistic one man against 15). He also sets mood well with the foggy, ominous vibe of the early episodes especially effective.

- Romance. I wasn't really expecting much but it surprised me how well this worked and it wasn't the normal route to romance that we see in k-dramaland. I liked that. The writer is a dude so we don't get all the sweet talk and, as much as I love all that stuff, I can get it from a romance drama. This relationship has a mature -we're-adults- here tone that worked quite well for me to the point I wanted more.

-Lee Joon Gi & Seo Ye Ji. Alone and together, they work. They are both solid actors with a lovely chemistry that shines through even though romance isn't the main focus of this drama.

-I've dinged the writer a bit for not always having all his ducks in a row, but it's a gentle chiding because this story has a lot of moving parts and many actors. I respect that this isn't always easy to do and the story does generally work with some nice twists and turns as well as fun and romance along the way but there is no doubt in my mind that the actors, director and music elevated it. Also, I give the writer credit for advancing a romance story in a different way instead of a dot to dot love storyline that seems thrown in just to satisfy the romantics but nothing that's really satisfying. (Full disclosure: I loved it, some were a bit doubtful.)

So overall if you can suspend reality and sit back for a fun ride in a solid though imperfectly written, well executed and acted drama this might be for you.
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